A Gobowen mum is pushing to raise the last third of the money needed to get her son lifesaving treatment in America after hitting the £1 million milestone.
Jasmin Roberts has thanked the tens of thousand of people who have donated to try and raise the £1.5 million needed to get her son Ollie get lifesaving heart surgery.
Ollie has a rare heart condition and will require a specialist form of surgery which is only available at Stanford University in America.
However in the last two weeks Jasmin’s campaign has gone viral on social media with videos get as many five million views.
This has led to an outpouring of support through two fundraisers.
“We have hit £1 million and a further £40,000 because we have the £1 army as well,” said Jasmin.
“When we reach £1,125,000 we can book in at Stanford. I know it’s a massive number, but not actually that far off. It has been one of the top ten GoFundMe fundraisers in the world for two weeks.”
The fundraiser has seen Jasmin gain support from some big names such as Hollywood actor and Wrexham AFC owner Ryan Reynolds , online game community Chaotic Games as well as Scottish author Leigh Rivers.
“Leigh Rivers was an absolute angel,” said Jasmin “She donated £10,000 originally. She then saw my update about how Stanford had said if we hit 75 percent we could book him in.
“She messaged me and said ‘how much more do you need?’
“At that point I think it was another £400,000 and she said ‘well this should help towards it’ and donated £100,000 out of the blue.”
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Jasmin’s campaign has seen her get national attention with multiple appearances on BBC radio and TV over the past two days.
This has coincided with a wide variety of different fundraisers across the UK.
“It’s amazing, it’s overwhelming,” said Jasmin. “There’s absolutely loads of stuff going on. It’s not just locally, it’s the entire UK.
“People are messaging me from everywhere and saying ‘Oh my school is doing a non-school uniform day in Scotland’. Ollie’s posters are up in Scotland and in Ireland.
“I think there have been 60,000 donations. The vast majority of this money has come from normal regular people.”
Jasmin said that while she is amazed with the support she is still anxious to keep the fundraising going and not let up until she reaches the £1.5 million goal.
“None of it feels real,” said Jasmin. “I keep worrying every day that the momentum is going to die off but it so far hasn’t happened. It’s amazing but that fear is still there. I won’t settle until he is on the plane.
“This time two weeks ago we were on £55,000. I firmly believe there are now so many people who will not stop until they see Ollie reach the goal.
“Ollie’s £1 army where people donate maybe £1 or £2 doesn’t sound like much but there is almost £40,000 on there.”
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Jasmin said she was taking all the steps she could to help with the fundraiser herself including some very big decisions.
“My house is on the market and we have some viewings, so hopefully that will sell soon and I can put that towards the fund, said Jasmin.
“A house isn’t a home without Ollie in it, it is just bricks.
“I have to put my money where my mouth is. I can’t ask people for £1.5 million without doing everything in my power.”
Anyone wishing to help Jasmin and Ollie reach their target can do so via: https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-save-baby-ollies-heart or via Ollie's £1 army : https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/ollies-1-army
